NFL Reaches Deal With Refs

Wide receiver Golden Tate of the Seattle Seahawks makes a catch in the end zone to defeat the Green Bay Packers on a controversial call by the officials at CenturyLink Field on Monday.
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By

Kevin Clark

Updated Sept. 27, 2012 11:39 a.m. ET

ENLARGE

The NFL has played three weeks' worth of games with replacement officials.
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NEW YORK—The National Football League and its referees union agreed late Wednesday night to end their labor dispute and close one of the most bizarre stretches in league history.

The National Football League and its referees union agreed late Wednesday night to end their labor dispute. Matthew Futterman reports on Markets Hub. Photo: Getty Images.

Before becoming the face of the disputed call in the Green Bay-Seattle football game Monday night, referee Lance Easley was a full-time banker for Bank of America. David Benoit reports on Markets Hub. Photo: AP.

The regular officials will work Thursday night's game in Baltimore between the Ravens and the Cleveland Browns, the league said. As of midnight, both sides were drawing up the paperwork to get officials back to work for this week's games. The tentative eight-year deal must still be ratified by the union's 121 members, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will temporarily lift the lockout to allow the regular officials to work Thursday night.

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"Our officials will be back on the field starting tomorrow night," Mr. Goodell said. "We appreciate the commitment of the NFLRA in working through the issues to reach this important agreement."

The NFL had played three weeks of games with replacement officials, who have been criticized for controversial calls.

"We are glad to be getting back on the field for this week's games," said Scott Green, president of the NFL Referees Association.

It was a negotiation defined by compromise. The league and refs were at odds on the union's insistence on continuing their pension program, as the NFL wanted to switch their pensions to a 401(k) and the referees sought to be grandfathered into existing pension plans.

The current pension plans will stay in place until 2016, a NFL official said.

Under the agreement, the referees' average salary, which was $149,000 last season, will climb to $173,000 in 2013 and $205,000 in 2019.

The other sticking point was whether the league would be able to "bench" officials for poor performance. Under the deal, the NFL has the option to hire certain officials on a full-time basis. It will be able to hire additional officials for training purposed and can assign those to work NFL games, though the total number of hires hasn't been determined.

The replacement refs have come under fire for a series of blunders, including a controversial call Monday in the final seconds of a game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers. In earlier games, the refs gave the Seahawks extra timeouts, the San Francisco 49ers extra replay challenges and awarded the wrong yardage on penalties.

On Monday, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson's long pass was called a touchdown by one official and an interception by another. It was clear the Packers' safety, M.D. Jennings, came down with the catch.

However, after watching the replay, officials ruled the Seahawks' Golden Tate caught the pass and scored the game-winning touchdown. The NFL released a statement on Tuesday saying a game-ending pass interference penalty should have been called on Seattle, but that the referees followed the proper procedure in awarding touchdown.

Corrections & Amplifications The Baltimore Ravens are playing the Cleveland Browns on Thursday. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Ravens would play the Cincinnati Bengals.

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